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“And your parents didn’t mind?” I inquired. No reason why they should, but people could harbor odd prejudices.
At once, Chloe shook her head. “They’re pretty easygoing. Their only real rules were to get good grades, stay off drugs, and not get pregnant.”
I couldn’t help smiling, since my mother had guided my teenage years with just about the same set of rules. But then, I supposed they were pretty universal.
“Did you go to the Tarot because of your dreams?” I asked next.
Her expression brightened, letting me know she was glad I’d figured it out so quickly.
“Yep, that’s exactly what happened,” she replied. “I started having them when I was around eleven, so I tried to do some research online about psychics and that kind of stuff. I found people on YouTube doing Tarot readings, and I got hooked. It wasn’t until high school that I started working with oracle cards, too, but Tarot’s always been my main thing.”
We had to break off the conversation there, because Josie entered the shop right then, today wearing a turquoise blue blazer and matching skirt that went much better with her fiery hair than the hot pink she’d had on the day before.
Immediately, her gaze moved to Chloe, frankly questioning, and I knew the moment had arrived.
Thanks to the way Josie was able to spread news all over town in what felt like the blink of an eye, I knew most of Globe would know within the hour that my long-lost half-sister had shown up out of the blue just in time to keep me from shutting down the store for an indefinite period.
“Hi, Josie,” I said. “This is Chloe Fairfield. She’s my little sister from L.A.”
I deliberately introduced her that way because even though we didn’t share the same mother, we still had Jordan Fairfield’s blood running through our veins. There didn’t seem to be much point in continuing to make the distinction that we were only half-sisters.
For just a second, Josie’s light blue eyes flared with surprise, but then she smiled and came forward with her usual bustling energy.
“So nice to meet you, Chloe,” she said. “I’m Josie Woodrow.”
“She’s the mayor,” I put in. “But before that, she was the person who sold me this store.”
“And I’m still in real estate,” Josie added. “So you just let me know if you’re in the market for a house around here.”
That sort of offer was pretty much par for the course for Josie, but Chloe’s startled expression told me she definitely hadn’t expected the conversation to take that kind of left turn quite so quickly.
“She’s staying at Hazel’s Airbnb for now,” I said, keeping my tone light…and also hoping Josie would get the hint that it wasn’t really the time to be talking about buying real estate when my sister had only shown up in town the day before. “But we’ll let you know. The important thing is that Chloe came here just in time to help me out with the store. She’ll be running things while I’m out on leave.”
If Josie was at all surprised by the arrangement, she didn’t show it. No, she only nodded and asked, “Does that mean the fifty percent off sale is canceled?”
Trust her to worry about something like that. Lips quirking with amusement, I said, “No, I’ll keep it going through the end of the week, just as I advertised. It’ll help to clear out some old stock that’s been sitting around for longer than I would have liked. And then Chloe can order new inventory…kind of like a spring cleaning for Once in a Blue Moon.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Josie said. “And it’s wonderful that you came at just the right time, Chloe. But I have a meeting I need to get to — very nice to meet you.”
And with that she headed out, leaving a drift of Chanel No. 5 in her wake.
Chloe blinked. “She’s kind of a force of nature, huh?”
I couldn’t help grinning. “You have no idea.”
As I’d expected, word spread fast, saving me the effort of having to reach out to everyone and let them know what was going on at the shop. Hazel dropped in to meet my sister, gave me an approving nod, and then headed out again. Victoria also came down from her studio so she could make her introductions with the person who would soon be running the store, and even Archie deigned to come by a little after one o’clock, since he didn’t have another dance class to teach until three.
His was the opinion I worried about the most. Although he would never come right out and admit it, I knew he looked on me as the sister he’d never had, just as I considered him a sort of found brother, and he was fiercely protective of me. After what had happened with Melanie Knowles, there was every chance he’d tell me I was out of my mind for inviting Chloe into my life so quickly when I knew so little about her.
Well, I wasn’t being quite as careless as it might have looked on the surface. That morning when Calvin went to work, he did a quick background check on Chloe, just to make sure I wasn’t the victim of a particularly clever con artist. He messaged me soon after, telling me that everything seemed to be on the up and up — she’d been born in Northridge Medical Center, had attended school in the local district, and graduated from Cal State Northridge…the same university I’d dropped out of more than ten years earlier after realizing a college diploma wasn’t what I needed in life…and that her parents had owned the same house since 1998 and were employed in exactly the professions she’d described.
While I really hadn’t had any reason to doubt her — the aura I’d seen hovering over her head the day before had told me everything I needed to know — it was still reassuring to have some solid proof that she truly was Jordan Fairfield’s daughter and not someone trying to worm their way into my life so they could get their hands on my money.
Again, I made the necessary introductions, and although Archie seemed surprised by Chloe’s sudden appearance, he only said it was nice to meet her. At the same time, I could tell my sister was impressed by Archie, who wasn’t exactly the sort of person you’d expect to find in tiny Globe, not with his impeccable clothing and the sort of handsome blond looks that seemed as though they would have been put to better use in some kind of classic film.
“So, what brings you to Globe?” Archie asked, and even though I could tell he was being on his best behavior, it was also somewhat obvious to me that he wasn’t going to head back to his dance studio until he had some answers that satisfied him.
“Finding Selena,” Chloe said frankly. “I mean, I knew she existed, but my father never talked much about her. I graduated from college a semester early, and it just seemed like the right time to look her up.”
